Aurora Over Chesterfield Michigan, Oct. 24th 2011
I was going to take my telescope out and do some observing, and I saw what I thought was clouds coming in from the north. I looked a bit harder and said “Waitaminute…those aren’t clouds!” I went back inside, and hit my Astronomy club’s Facebook page, and folks were reporting seeing Aurora. An officer asked if anyone could go get photos. I offered to try.
I drove a short distance from my home (no houselights), and setup my tripod. When I started taking shots about 9:10 PM, there was only some green fuzz on the northern horizon. Suddenly, a GIANT bright red splotch appeared to the east about 9:15 PM. Then long red spikes to the west, and it domed overhead. I-94 was 100 meters to my left – the folks driving on it towards Port Huron must have thought the sky was on fire! The whole show was over by around 9:50 PM.
It was easily one of the best displays I have ever seen – and I went to Michigan Tech, and saw quite a few.
Post on the Voice News about the Aurora featuring my photos.
Post on the Lights in the Dark Astronomy Blog featuring my photos.
Repost of the Lights in the Dark article on OpenSalon.
Pingback: Balrog's Lair » Blog Archive » Nighttime Observations 11/4/2011
Pingback: Balrog's Lair
Pingback: Sun 10-24-2011 Noon | Balrog's Lair